Chapter Two

Marie held her breath. It sounded like the very mountain above was coming down on them. There was so much dust in the air, she could barely see the corporal right beside her. Small rock peppered her head and upper body until she was finally knocked off her knees by a golf ball-sized ricochet that glanced off her temple.

She wasn't sure how long she lay unmoving, waiting for the rumbling to stop and the air to clear. Groans were the first thing she was aware of when it was quiet again and that was enough to make her rise to her elbows.

Someone shouted, "Medic!" then others began to talk, some loudly in the panicky aftermath. Marie was on her knees and moving before she knew what she was doing, years of training and inherent instincts willing her forward. But dizziness almost toppled her over.

She heard a deep cough closer to her and looked up in time to see Hector put a hand on her arm. "You okay, Marie?" he asked, his Hispanic accent ringing strong despite his raspy tone.

She nodded. "Go ahead," she said as she tried to catch her breath. "Help the others."

Hector left her, disappearing into the dust cloud enveloping the cavern, but at least the dust seemed to be settling. The beams from the flashlights were beginning to cut through the haze and Marie was able to see more of the cave. She wiped at her forehead and wasn't surprised to find her hand come away wet with blood. If that was the worst of her injuries, then she would count herself lucky.

Remembering her patient, she reached down to take his pulse. "Corporal Hopkins?" she asked.

"I'm still here, ma'am," the young man said groggily, reaching up to put his hand on her forearm. "You okay? You're bleeding."

She was touched by his concern. Here was a man about to lose his leg, if not his life, and he was worried about her.

Marie nodded. "I'm fine. It's just a cut. How are you doing?"

Ignoring her, he mumbled, "Sounds like there's other people who need your help."

"The rest of my team can help the others. I'm staying with you."

Hopkins shook his head. "They aren't taking my leg, so just leave me. Help the people risking their lives for me. They need you more."

Just then, Lorne's hoarse voice cut through the growing confusion. "Sing out, people, if you're able to."

The men and women inside the collapsed cavern began to call out their names in a disorganized roll call – some strong, others sounding pretty shaky. Marie felt disoriented and the disembodied voices only added to that feeling.

She patted Hopkins on the hand, leaving her fingers there to squeeze his. "I'm not leaving you."

A half-dozen names were called out before it went silent again.

Lorne continued to speak, though he stopped to cough several times and seemed to be in pain, "Okay, Martin, see why we haven't heard from anyone at the cave entrance. Melloni, do a head count. I want to know how many people we have up and about."

He continued to issue orders in the fading haze, but Marie wasn't listening to him any longer. She realized she still hadn't heard Carson's voice, but before she could call for him, Lorne shouted, "Medic on the double! Beckett's hurt!"

Marie's hold on the corporal's hand tightened and she fought to control her emotions as her thoughts refused to flow in an orderly fashion, mostly because of past fears that were intruding upon the present.

"Go on, ma'am," the corporal said. "Help him. I'm not going anywhere."

Hopkins squeezed her forearm. "Really, I'm okay. If the doc's in trouble, everyone who's hurt will be in a bind. Go."

She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, thinking of Carson, the man she had nicknamed her good luck charm ever since he'd come back from Michael's imprisonment.

"Okay, but I'll be back as soon as I can," she said finally.

Getting to her feet was easier said than done. As soon as she started to stand, she became woozy and had to put a hand to her head. Her mind flashed on the countless times she had seen an injured soldier do the very same thing. Still, it was vastly different to be experiencing it herself.

"Over here," Lorne said, waving her over after catching sight of her.

Hector was with Carson by the time Marie stumbled her way over to them. Both Lorne and Hector put up a hand on each of her arms to steady her before she knelt. After a moment, she went to work. She took Carson's wrist in her hand, looking for a pulse.

"He doesn't look so good, ma'am," Lorne said, glancing up at her.

The major didn't look so good himself, if the truth be told. Lorne was breathing hard and in pain, but his attention was scattered around the room, even as he held Carson's head against his thigh. Carson was semi-conscious, struggling to return to full consciousness, but not successfully.

The blonde-haired Martin returned with two other men. "Sir, looks like we're stuck in here. The passageway has collapsed completely."

"Damn," Lorne muttered. "Get anyone who isn't hurt to help you start moving rubble. Maybe we can dig our way out to the others."

Martin nodded, moving away with the others with him, but he hesitated and turned back to Lorne. "What if – what if there aren't any others?"

Instead of answering Martin's question, Lorne tapped his radio. "Colonel, this is Lorne. Please respond."

There was only static in response.

"Anyone who can hear me, please respond," Lorne said, tension tightening his voice.

He glanced at Martin. "Try your radio."

"This is Doctor Martin. Can anyone hear me?" Martin said.

When there was no response, Martin shook his head.

Lorne chewed on his lip. "We consider them alive until we find out otherwise. There might be something wrong with the radios. Look, I know you are just civilians, scientists and such, but the rest of my team is down at the moment and it's up to you. I'll be over to help as soon as I can."

"Don't worry. We'll get on it," Martin said with Melloni and the others trailing behind him.

As Lorne turned his attention back to Carson, Marie put her hand on Carson's chest to count his respiration, which was also fast and shallow. Leaning forward, she asked, "Carson – Carson, can you hear me?"

After all, she couldn't dwell on what she had no control over, but she could take care of Carson. Pulling her stethoscope from around her neck, she listened to his heart. Carson's pulse was fast and thready, but at least his heart was still beating.

She put her hand to his cheek and patted gently. "Carson, it's Marie. Can you hear me? Come on, Carson, talk to me."

Carson turned his head toward her, then slumped against Lorne's leg.

Biting her lip, Marie continued to assess Carson's condition, but in her heart, all she could think of was those terrible days after Carson had been killed.

Those dark, dark days that had blended into weeks, and then months, and then even years. Years without Carson's bubbly expression. Without his optimistic attitude. Without his friendship that was the heart and soul of Atlantis.

She found she was gasping for air and it must have been obvious because Lorne had reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

When she didn't answer right away, he tightened his grip on her and continued, "Gavillanes, you take over checking out the doc. I've got her."

She was aware of movement around her and she tried to pull her gaze away from Carson's pale, dirt-streaked face, but it seemed impossible to do. They couldn't lose him again. She was jarred from her panicky mind-set by Lorne, who had hold of her and squeezed her shoulder again as he said, "Marie? Marie, listen up."

Nodding, she tried to swallow back her fear, but it just popped right back into the middle of her throat. "Yes," she stammered. "Yes, I hear you. I'm fine. I'm sorry to scare you. Just give me another moment to check Carson for injuries. Hector, go ahead and start looking at the others."

Hector nodded and leaned over to the right to help one of Lorne's men who was lying nearby unconscious. While he checked him, Marie put her stethoscope up to her ears and listened this time to Carson's breathing. Over the steady respirations, she heard more moans and groans coming for the people around them – people whose conditions were still unknown.

The determined Scottish physician lying on the ground beside her would be on her case for focusing on him when there were others with possibly worse injuries, perhaps even dead or dying, but she couldn't help herself. She would deal with them in a moment, once she was sure Carson was okay.

She started to speak, but coughed instead, making her vision go white around the edges. She cleared her throat and pushed past the pain as she did a quick scan for broken bones or open wounds on Carson. She sighed with relief when she didn't find anything alarming.

"He's still with us, Major. I'll need to give him a closer exam after I triage the others." Turning toward the medic, she asked, "Hector, where do you need me first?"

Hector turned back from the man he was working on and sighed. "Well, these two aren't too bad, just unconscious. I'll keep checking on the others."

"I'll go with you," Marie said as she nodded and started to stand.

Lorne helped her up, then stayed close to her side. She pulled away a little. "I'm okay," she started.

"Are you sure?" he asked, not looking convinced.

She nodded. "Yes. We've got injured to treat."

She swallowed with sudden dizziness and swayed a little. Lorne put his hand on her arm.

"I'm going with you, ma'am," Lorne said firmly.

"Very well," she said with a sigh. "I'll need a medkit."

Lorne looked around and saw it was still back with Hopkins. "I'll get it," he said quickly. "Just hold tight and don't move around too much without me."

Lorne quickly returned with the medkit, handing it to Marie. He rubbed a hand over his left shoulder once it was free. It wasn't until that moment that Marie noticed how the major had kept one hand pressed against his shoulder the whole time she'd been talking to him. What was wrong with her not to notice his condition earlier?

She told herself she'd start with Lorne's shoulder when she went to examine him.

The dust had settled more and it was easier to see. The torches that had nearly blown out with the cave in were starting to recover, their flames burning brighter, which helped to evaluate who was worse and needed the most help.

She glanced at the torches again as the flames flickered. There was a breeze coming in from somewhere. That might be helpful at some point. At least they weren't going to suffocate.

Hector approached her and said, "Looks like Doctor Wellers there in the corner has a compound fracture of her right arm."

Marie saw the unnatural angle of the unconscious biologist's bloodied arm and nodded. That looked serious. Lorne nudged her forward and she went to Wellers, trying hard to ignore the dizziness that kept her unsteady. Things were becoming more orderly, but the lingering chaos was distracting. She only prayed there were no casualties to be found once everything settled down.

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Chapter 2